


We've Got This Far

by jane_x80



Series: Tony Skates [5]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21750628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: Gibbs wants to do something to show Tony that he means a lot to him, especially since it's going to be three months since they started their relationship. This takes place not long after last year's Ice Skating story,Together, We Make Flower.ForDay 10 of the 2019 Happy Holidays Challenge on LiveJournal, the theme is Ice Skating. A story in collaboration with Red_Pink_Dots and her fabulous artwork.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Series: Tony Skates [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/900300
Comments: 37
Kudos: 164





	We've Got This Far

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Art for We’ve Got This Far](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21748990) by [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots). 



> This is the second story that ma cherie [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots) collaborated with me to create for this year's Happy Holidays Challenge. We talked through the plot and RPD came up with the draft artwork and everything, but I've had a rough few weeks so I had thought I wouldn't be able to write the story. But somehow yesterday I told myself to stop wallowing and get to work. So here's a short story that continues Tony's ice skating adventures with Gibbs. :D
> 
> The song I listened to was [The Circle of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPFGXBfEs-4) which is from the Lion King. The title of the story came from the lyrics of [Can You Feel The Love Tonight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZr-VTULYQ8):  
>  _And can you feel the love tonight_  
>  _It is where we are_  
>  _It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer_  
>  _That we've got this far_

[](https://i.imgur.com/CBc1hnN.png)

Gibbs was sipping coffee, watching as his Senior Field Agent and the man he was secretly in a relationship with pulled out his moves on the ice. Tony was amazing on his ice skates – a gift from Gibbs just this past Christmas – whether he was doing his fancy jumps and spins, or if he was just dancing around, having fun on the ice. It was a good thing that the ice rink manager owed Gibbs, because he’d been able to get the ice rink just for Tony after hours so he could practice figure skating, a passion which he’d shared with his late mother and which he’d hid from everyone practically his entire life.

Tony liked it when Gibbs joined him on the ice, and certainly Gibbs had never skated better in his life with Tony holding him, positioning him and helping him. He just allowed himself to go with Tony’s flow, and he’d had a lot of fun learning some new things to add to his rudimentary skills. But for Gibbs, watching Tony fly across the ice, his face set in concentration as he prepared himself for a jump, his entire being suffused with joy as he did it, that was what he most enjoyed.

In Gibbs’ opinion, Tony had never looked so happy and joyful and free as he did when he was allowed to figure skate. It was a fucking tragedy that his father had been so unsupportive, hell, he’d probably called Tony terrible names for his love of figure skating. Never mind that this was something he used to do with his mother since he was a mere toddler. But the damage was done, Tony only ever skated in secret. He’d taken up hockey in high school so he could remain on skates, even if hockey wasn’t really what he wanted to do. But playing hockey did allow him to be on the ice and feel close to his mother again, even if it was for a fleeting moment and even if it wasn’t quite what figure skating was to him.

Gibbs was watching as Tony executed a beautiful triple salchow, spinning high in the air and landing perfectly, arms out. He turned to Gibbs, a triumphant smile on his face, and Gibbs nodded, smiling back, indicating that he’d seen it. Tony tried not to let it show how much he loved that Gibbs had taken an interest in him, and Gibbs knew that Tony thought that Gibbs was only indulging him with his ‘stupid little hobby’. But Gibbs really did love watching Tony be so sincerely and openly happy that it brought him great joy to be in a position to enable Tony to enjoy his old pastime without betraying his secret.

They were coming up to their three month anniversary, though. If you counted it from the week after Thanksgiving when Gibbs first saw Tony skate. Tony probably thought it started at Christmas when Gibbs brought him his gift, but the possibilities that had been simmering inside Gibbs for many years had certainly bloomed inside him when he watched as Tony was whooping happily as he landed his jumps. Even when he ended up sprawled on the ice, he was still grinning with joy when he picked himself up. And he tried the move again and again, never giving up even if he kept wiping out. His face was so open and the most honest that Gibbs had ever seen, and all he could see was the beauty inside that Tony guarded so fiercely and hid from everyone. Sure, he’d been interested in Tony for years, but this uninhibited view of Tony captivated him. So yes. He counted what they had between them as beginning from that day, when Tony was figure skating around a crime scene that he had already carefully marked out, and Gibbs was hiding in the darkness like a peeping tom.

Gibbs wanted to do something for Tony to commemorate their auspicious beginning. Besides, it was Valentine’s Day soon. Not that Gibbs was the kind to do mushy romantic things. He certainly didn’t make the effort for any of his ex-wives. But he didn’t want to treat Tony that way. Tony was different. Tony was special. Maybe it was the fact that he had known Tony for years and years, and Tony knew all of his fucking secrets and still seemed to love and accept him anyway. Maybe it was just that Tony was so different from his ex-wives. Maybe it felt to him that Tony was somehow very similar to Shannon yet simultaneously totally different from her. Gibbs couldn’t have tried to quantify it, and for once, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to talk himself out of this, whatever this was that he had with Tony. For once, he wanted to keep this relationship. And if he read Tony right, he thought that Tony felt the same way about him. Which, given the years that he and Tony had worked closely together and melded their lives inside and outside of work what with their tough work schedules and the intensity of the work that they did, he thought that he was pretty good at reading Tony. He felt sure that he wasn’t just a fling for Tony either.

He didn’t want to waste this chance that he’d been given. He wanted to show Tony that he appreciated him. He had reservations at one of Tony’s favorite restaurants for Valentine’s Day. And he wanted to do something else for their three month anniversary that would come a couple weeks after that. He just didn’t quite know what it was he could do that would make Tony know that Gibbs was serious about him, and that this wasn’t just Gibbs indulging in something Tony enjoyed to make him happy. This was Gibbs loving him, especially when he was able to be that person that he tended to hide from the world, that person who had been hurt so much by his father and the world that Tony put on whatever masks he needed to in order to survive and move forward. He wanted Tony to know that he loved Tony for who he was, and not whoever he thought he needed to be. He wanted for Tony to one day be able to be that person he saw inside him when Tony skated without fear that Gibbs would reject him. He wanted desperately to be the one that Tony trusted enough with that precious part of himself.

Well. Maybe first, he needed to break it to the man that he loved him, period. But that was a tricky thing to do with someone like Tony. Tony was someone who would have trouble believing that anyone actually loved him, and not for the first time Gibbs cursed Tony’s stupid and neglectful father. Tony always put himself last, and was always surprised if someone was sincerely concerned about him. It would take a lot to convince Tony that Gibbs did love him.

He watched Tony perform a complicated combination of dance move then a small jump, landing right into a spin on the ice, and grinned widely when Tony turned to catch his eye again after he’d completed it. He loved that look of happiness on Tony’s face. Someone could mistake it for Tony seeking his approval, but he knew that it wasn’t approval Tony was seeking. He was looking to see if Gibbs was still paying attention him. Gibbs didn’t doubt that even though it was his mother who had instilled in him a love of ice skating, that the woman had probably been too drunk to truly appreciate Tony’s efforts much of the time. Tony was someone who had grown up knowing that nobody was there for him, and no one would be there to see him accomplish anything or fail at anything. So when he and Tony were out together and especially when Tony was skating, he made sure to give Tony his undivided attention. It was one real way that he could signal to Tony that he mattered.

But today he still wanted to figure out something that they could do together that would be another way to show Tony how he felt. Tony loved skating, but that was a secret thing, something that was now just between the two of them. There were only so many skating outings that Gibbs could organize for him. He needed something else for this three month marker of the new development in their long relationship. Something special.

He started thinking about the other things that Tony loved, hoping to get some inspiration. Finally, as Tony was starting his cool down routine, and looking expectantly at Gibbs to join him on the ice, Gibbs thought he might have an idea. He would have to do some research, but with any luck, he would be able to get Tony the perfect three month anniversary gift that would be meaningful and intimate, but also a statement of some sort.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony couldn’t believe it. First, on Valentine’s Day, Gibbs had actually surprised him and taken him out to a romantic dinner, just the two of them. It was one of Tony’s favorite restaurants, and one that they had gone to a few times, but never openly as a couple. But this time their table was candlelit and beautiful. It was unmistakably a romantic night out. Gibbs had even brought him a flower and pulled his chair out for him and everything. Tony hadn’t expected anything like that from Gibbs. He was a Marine, after all. He was Gibbs. He was gruff and grumpy. But Gibbs had been so very sweet to him since they started whatever it was they’d started.

And after dinner, Tony had certainly rewarded Gibbs. He was sure that his team lead had never had as many orgasms with his ex-wives as he did with Tony, and it also seemed to him as if Gibbs’ releases always seemed to be _very_ satisfying. They definitely did not have any trouble in the sack. Gibbs was a generous lover and Tony, well, he took pride in ensuring that his partners never had anything to complain about. So far, it didn’t seem to him that Gibbs had any complaints.

It all seemed to be going well with them. Then a few days later, Gibbs handed him tickets to a Disney on Ice show.

“Is this for us?” Tony asked, shocked at what he was seeing.

Gibbs grunted and nodded.

“But you already took me out for Valentine’s Day,” Tony frowned. “I don’t understand what this is for?”

“Do you not like it?” Gibbs asked.

“Oh, no! I _love_ it!” Tony clutched the tickets to his chest protectively. “I mean, movies and ice skating, all rolled into one? What’s not to like?”

Gibbs smiled at him. “Good. I was hoping the combination would work.”

“Definitely, it definitely works for me,” Tony smiled at him. “Thank you. I really appreciate it, and I really am looking forward to it. I just…” he sighed. “But why’d you get me this?”

“’Cause,” Gibbs shrugged. “Kind of our anniversary.”

“Huh?” Tony gaped at him.

“Been three months since I first saw you skate.”

Tony’s heart pounded in his chest. “Did you get us tickets to Disney on Ice because you thought it was something I’d like, and that you wanted to what? Celebrate our three month anniversary?”

Gibbs flushed and he shrugged.

Tony stared at him for a long moment and even though they were in the NCIS parking lot, he then threw himself into Gibbs’ arm and kissed him, long and deep. “Thank you,” his smile was a little watery afterwards.

Gibbs caressed the back of Tony’s head, running his fingers through the soft hair. “You’re welcome,” he muttered, smiling that quiet smile that Tony loved at him. That smile that Tony only ever saw when they were alone together.

When the evening of their Disney on Ice performance arrived, Gibbs had even taken the team off rotation to ensure that Tony would get to see his show and that no case would inconveniently drop in their laps and derail their plans. Tony was practically quivering with excitement all day. When the show started, he was all smiles and focused on what was going on the ice, clutching Gibbs’ hand tightly and reacting with the crowd. For once he wasn’t bothered by the fact that they were surrounded by children. He couldn’t quell his excitement for the program.

He sang along with all the songs, and whispered comments about what the skaters were doing. The fact that they had ropes hanging down from the ceiling for some of their acts – including the Lion King segment – absolutely caught his attention. The performers were using the ropes to swing around and do aerial acrobatics before continuing back on ice. He was very much taken with what they were doing and getting ideas for things that he could try out himself.

The segment with Shrek on ice was also fabulous. Really, Tony was taken with the entire show. It was quite the spectacle, Mickey and Minnie Mouse on ice, singing and dancing. All of the different acts from classic Disney that he’d grown up with to the newer movies that he secretly knew and loved. He knew the words to all the songs and he sang along because everyone was singing along. Even Gibbs was smiling throughout the show. A special section of the audience got to get into these big sleds and be driven around the ice, becoming somewhat of participants in the show. It was all so very exciting. He knew he was being a child about it, but he couldn’t help himself. It didn’t help that Gibbs kept buying him overpriced dippin’ dots and cotton candy, even a blue Italian ice served in a special Lion King commemorative container. He even allowed Tony to feed him and shared in the bounty.

When the show ended, and they were done with the applause, Tony leaned back and sighed. Gibbs had an arm on the back of his seat, his hand casually on Tony’s shoulder. He knew that given the crowds leaving the arena right now, Gibbs would prefer to wait a few minutes and give the other people a chance to disperse before they left.

“Did you enjoy it?” Gibbs asked, smiling that special smile at him.

“Very much,” Tony said enthusiastically. “I really did.”

“Me too,” Gibbs’ smile widened. He snuck his arm around Tony and pulled him close, kissing him softly, uncaring that they were in public.

“Thank you for thinking of this for me,” Tony said shyly. He knew he was blushing, but Gibbs did that to him sometimes.

They sat there together, Gibbs’ arm around him, Tony laying his head on Gibbs’ shoulder, while they waited until the crowd had lessened. When the arena was almost empty, Gibbs stood and fussed to make sure that Tony’s jacket was buttoned up and his blue scarf was snug around his neck. He slipped Tony’s commemorative cup into his coat pocket, then hand in hand, they walked out to the parking lot.

As they walked towards Gibbs’ car, something occurred to Tony. “Wait just a second,” he stopped, putting his hands on his hips. “It’s not our three month anniversary until three months after Christmas!”

Gibbs grinned at him. “Depends on how you count it.”

“What do you mean, depends on how you count it? You gave me my skates on Christmas day!”

“Well…”

“Oh my god,” Tony gasped. “Are you counting our anniversary as from when you watched me skate that very first time? When I didn’t even know that you were watching me?”

Gibbs shrugged, grinning.

“You’re such a voyeur,” Tony rolled his eyes. “Nothing happened that day.”

“I saw you skate,” Gibbs took his hand and started walking again. “It meant a lot to me.”

“I didn’t kiss you until Christmas,” Tony pointed out. “Technically, that was our first date.”

“Hey, if you want to dispute my math, you can organize your version of our three month anniversary next month,” Gibbs said nonchalantly.

Tony silently stared at Gibbs for a moment before he pulled Gibbs into his arms. He buried his face in Gibbs’ neck, and Gibbs’ arms went around him, holding him close.

Finally he pulled away and gave Gibbs a slightly wobbly smile. “You’re on,” he grinned. “I’m going to have to show you how a proper three month anniversary is celebrated.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Gibbs rolled his eyes.

“Hey, do you think I need to take pole dancing classes before I can do what those guys did with the rope from the ceiling? That might be a cool thing to incorporate into the skating that I already do,” Tony looked thoughtful.

Gibbs’ laughter at his statement warmed his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Whee! Hope you enjoyed the story.
> 
> Short story: we took the kids to see Disney on Ice a year or two ago, and it was super fun so I thought it would work well in this story for Tony. Their Tangled segment was excellent and involved a lot of aerial acrobatics as well as skating. RPD and I decided that we liked Shrek and The Lion King for Tony's little escapade with Gibbs. To that end, I watched several clips of Disney on Ice, notably these two that are The Lion King bits:  
> * [Lion King Clip 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh95MVkH10Q)  
> * [Lion King Clip 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP80Hd82eUw)
> 
> The songs I listened to were:  
> * [The Circle of Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPFGXBfEs-4)  
> * [Can You Feel The Love Tonight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZr-VTULYQ8)  
> Both were from the Lion King. I listened to different versions of it, from the original movie, to the new movie, to the Elton John versions. I'm only putting links to the most recent versions but you guys can easily find the other versions. Oh, the Pentatonix version of Can You Feel The Love Tonight is also pretty amazing.
> 
> And as always, merci beaucoup to my Elton, Red_Pink_Dots. Go check out her [art post](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21748990) and show her your love for her work! The artwork is amazing and it totally inspired my recalcitrant muse to get to work. Thank you for being my friend, and such a fun person to collaborate with. Your support means the world to me. Je t'aime, ma cherie.
> 
> Until next time, y'alls.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for We’ve Got This Far](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21748990) by [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/pseuds/Red_Pink_Dots)




End file.
